KINGMAN – A five-year prison term has been ordered for a former church volunteer charged with sex offenses involving a teenage congregation member in Lake Havasu City. Pleas for probation for 38-year-old James Dawson were rejected during a June 10 sentencing hearing in Kingman.
Authorities said the 16-year-old victim had fled a poor home environment and was staying with Dawson and his wife at their home in the 1200 block of McCulloch Boulevard when the incident occurred last Oct. Prosecutor Leah Nelson said the girl was sleeping on a couch when she woke up to being sexually assaulted.
Dawson pleaded guilty to a charge reduced to attempted sexual assault.
The victim’s impact letter was read into the record during the sentencing hearing before Mohave County Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle. He said she clearly suffered significant emotional harm.
Judge Carlisle ordered that Dawson shall comply with sex offender registration terms for life, upon release from the Department of Corrections.
